betacoronavirus

Italian pediatric respiratory society recommendations on pediatric pulmonary function testing during COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Effective prevention and control strategies are mandatory to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main text: The Italian Pediatric Respiratory Society promotes a series of new recommendations that should be followed in pulmonary function testing laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Pulmonary function testing should be performed in children with chronic lung disease only if it is needed to guide management and limited to the necessary tests, namely spirometry.

Covid-19 in children: A brief overview after three months experience

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – Coronavirus – 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its related Coronavirus Disease – 19 (COVID-19) has become a health emergency worldwide. The medical community has been concerned since the beginning of the outbreak about the potential impact of COVID-19 in children, especially in those with underlying chronic diseases. Fortunately, COVID-19 has been reported to be less severe in children than in adults. However, epidemiologic and clinical data are scarce.

Differences and similarities between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2: spike receptor-binding domain recognition and host cell infection with support of cellular serine proteases

Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) became pandemic by the end of March 2020. In contrast to the 2002–2003 SARS-CoV outbreak, which had a higher pathogenicity and lead to higher mortality rates, SARSCoV-2 infection appears to be much more contagious. Moreover, many SARS-CoV-2 infected patients are reported to develop low-titer neutralizing antibody and usually suffer prolonged illness, suggesting a more effective SARS-CoV-2 immune surveillance evasion than SARS-CoV.

Management of patients with ovarian cancer in the COVID-19 era

At the beginning of 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads worldwide. Patients with ovarian cancer should be considered at high-risk of developing severe morbidity related to COVID-19. Most of them are diagnosed in advanced stages of disease, and they are fragile. Here, we evaluated the major impact of COVID-19 on patients with ovarian cancer, discussing the effect of the outbreak on medical and surgical treatment.

Tobacco smoking and COVID-19 pandemic. Old and new issues. A summary of the evidence from the scientific literature

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic burst onto the international scene as a new disease disproportionately affecting certain patient groups; hence it has risen many questions yet to be clarified. The aim of this study was to outline the main issues that led tobacco smoking being discussed as a potential risk factor associated with COVID-19. Methods: Articles from MEDLINE and pre-prints published from January to April 2020 were identified. Results: Data from China showed that men had more severe outcomes of COVID-19 than women.

Cardiometabolic multimorbidity is associated with a worse Covid-19 prognosis than individual cardiometabolic risk factors. A multicentre retrospective study (CoViDiab II)

Background: Cardiometabolic disorders may worsen Covid-19 outcomes. We investigated features and Covid-19 outcomes for patients with or without diabetes, and with or without cardiometabolic multimorbidity. Methods: We collected and compared data retrospectively from patients hospitalized for Covid-19 with and without diabetes, and with and without cardiometabolic multimorbidity (defined as ≥ two of three risk factors of diabetes, hypertension or dyslipidaemia).

Breast surgeons updating on the thresholds of COVID-19 era: Results of a multicenter collaborative study evaluating the role of online videos and multimedia sources on breast surgeons education and training

OBJECTIVE: Current trends show a rise of attention given to breast cancer patients' quality of life and the surgical reconstructive result. Along with this trend, surgical training quality and efficacy are gaining importanceand innovative training methods such as onlinevideos shared on social media portals, are becoming main updating tools. In hazardous times like COVID-19 pandemic nowadays, online communication becomes of vital importance and adaptation and innovation are fundamental to keep research and education alive.

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